You can’t say Tiger Woods has never taken in the scenery when he’s been in town.
“I never knew there were rolling hills here in Fort Worth,” the legendary golfer says in a promotional video for Bluejack Ranch, the $2.5 billion luxury residential development and working ranch just outside the city.
Woods, who swung through Fort Worth often early in his career when Nike had its performance center here, is now as familiar with Cowtown’s rolling hills as he is with the Amen Corner at the Augusta National Golf Club.
He is one of the developers of the 914-acre project located off State Highway 377 in Aledo, just a long putt outside the Fort Worth city limits and about a Woods-sized 3-wood from Benbrook Lake.
Woods’ firm, TGR Design, laid out the 18-hole course. No surprise then, that some tee boxes are set aside for golfers who want to test their abilities against a famed power hitter like Woods.
“Tiger tees off up here,” said Andy Mitchell, managing partner at Lantern Capital Management, developer of Bluejack Ranch, pointing to a spot many daunting yards away as he stands on a tee box for one of Bluejack’s holes. “Us mortals play from here.”
Mitchell, born and raised in Fort Worth, is Woods’ partner on the project.
For many of the holes, Mitchell says the natural beauty of the area was undisturbed.
“There were a lot of natural holes here, it was kind of amazing,” he said.
While Woods has his tee boxes, the 7,700-yard course is designed to be playable.
“Tiger wants it to be a fun experience,” Mitchell said. “Searching for your ball in the rough is not fun.”
It’s not the first rodeo – or round of golf – for the pairing. Woods and Mitchell were behind Bluejack National, a 787-acre private golf community in similarly rolling, wooded terrain in Montgomery, Texas, about 50 miles north of Houston. That project opened in 2014 and has since been rated the top residential course in Texas by Golfweek Magazine, which also ranks it the eighth best in the nation.
Bear Creek runs through the rolling topography of Bluejack Ranch. The design goal for the golf course was to leave the natural beauty of the area mostly undisturbed.
(Courtesy | Bluejack Ranch)
These types of luxury golf-focused real estate developments have been on the upswing in the past few years, according to the National Golf Foundation. After a slowdown following the Great Recession, projects like this have started to take off again, particularly in high-growth areas in the Sun Belt region, according to a study by the organization.
Developments like this are not surprising to Carlos Munguia, president and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth area for Amegy Bank. He sees the region as having a long runway for continued economic strength, citing the area’s growth as a financial hub, epitomized by the Texas Stock Exchange.
“We’re definitely in the epicenter — and the future — of the economy overall,” he said.
Woods’ fellow PGA Tour pro J.J. Henry is a partner on Bluejack Ranch.
Henry and Mitchell share a connection as well. Both went to Texas Christian University at the same time.
Adding more purple to the proceedings, Mitchell’s wife, Kristen Mitchell, is a consultant on the project and a graduate from the home of the frog.
The first phase of development for Bluejack Ranch will see about 125 luxury homes along with what are called golf cottages, available for weekend retreats. The average home price is more than $3 million.
Mitchell said sales momentum is stronger than it was when he was developing Bluejack National.
“Everybody wants to be in Fort Worth now,” he said. “I’ve heard from people all over the country.”
The new course and others like it are a tap into Fort Worth’s long connection with golf, said Lance Barrow of CBS Sports, who produced the network’s golf coverage for years and grew up in Fort Worth.
“When you think about Fort Worth and the impact Marvin Leonard had when he decided to build Colonial Country Club and brought a then-record $10,000 purse event, and Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, it’s just part of Fort Worth history,” he said. “These new courses just continue that tradition.”
The initial home development at Bluejack Ranch will be from Mitchell’s company with Horseshoe Homes, which are about 4,000 square feet with five bedrooms/five baths. Other home-building companies will also set up shop at Bluejack, said Mitchell.
The layout of Bluejack Ranch’s Tiger Woods’ designed golf course. (Courtesy | Bluejack Ranch)
The gated, membership-based community is more than just a place to live and golf.
Along with being a working ranch, the project features an array of other amenities. Those include horse stables and an equestrian arena, a 20-acre dude ranch, a spa and wellness area, a family entertainment hub and a golf performance center.
Mitchell emphasized the area is more of a lifestyle than a country club experience.
“We want to encourage residents to be part of a community,” he said.
Tapping into Fort Worth’s recent growth as a filmmaking hub, Bluejack Ranch has set up Lantern Entertainment Studio, equipped for film, television and podcast production.
That’s an area Mitchell knows something about. His Lantern Capital Partners is a Dallas-based private equity firm that specializes in buying distressed assets and turning them into profitable ventures, including deals with companies in the manufacturing, technology, energy or automotive space that are needing capital investment.
But in 2018, the distressed asset that came into Lantern’s possession was none other than the film library amassed by disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein. Mitchell and his partners purchased the 277-film library out of bankruptcy for $289 million and later added studios in Paris that have produced popular series such as “Emily in Paris.”
On the edge of the development facing Highway 377 will be a 100-acre commercial and retail district area with a variety of service-oriented businesses.
Mitchell’s group was not the first to see potential in the rolling hills of the ranchland just southwest of Fort Worth.
The idea for the current development was first planted in 2018 at the Bluejack in Montgomery. Mitchell recalls the date well because the site was holding a charity event for victims of Hurricane Harvey. Henry was among the players participating.
“He said he had this idea for a golf club for TCU and Fort Worth,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell, who played football at Western Hills High School, wasn’t sure it would work. He hadn’t seen the land and, as steeped in Fort Worth as he was, he couldn’t imagine topography like that available so close to the city.
But Henry, as consistent to the idea as he has been in his golf game, persisted in pursuing his vision. He began with one partner in 2022, then in 2023 with Escalante Golf , a Fort Worth-based golf club operator that owns 22 golf clubs around the country. The deal went so far that plans were announced that called for a $100 million Kelly Ranch Golf Club with more than 1,000 homes. But Escalante didn’t finalize an agreement for the property and the project was back in the rough.
It was a trip to the area that sold Mitchell. The terrain was more Hill Country than high plains.
“I thought I knew Fort Worth, but I didn’t know this,” he said.
Perhaps more important was his wife’s reaction.
“She said, ‘I could live here,’ and really that was all it took,” he said. “Finally, I had my ticket out of Dallas.”
The group purchased the land from developer Ryan Voorhees and the project began.
As of early August, the golf course was set, ready to be watered in. Only, of course, there has been little — if any — rain to speak of in North Texas until recently. The golf course opening may be delayed a bit, officials said. Ranch amenities are coming online, though.
Still, some of the structures have gone vertical and are nearing completion. Mitchell is more than ready to get started.
“We got all the infrastructure in, so now it’s all development,” he said. “That’s what took the longest, getting all the utilities in — the sewer, the water.”
For the all-important water, Bluejack Ranch is served by a municipal utility district and a commercial well, Mitchell said
And Mitchell is taking care to give the area the look and feel of a neighborhood. The roads will be blacktop as opposed to concrete, for instance.
“Nothing against concrete, but the blacktop gives it a softer look and it’s not as tough on cars,” he said.
Care, too, is being taken to preserve the area’s topography, trees and grasses.
“We’ve had TCU’s Ranch Management people out there to help us,” Mitchell said. “They’re going to work with us on this.”
The club has not announced member or initiation fees for Bluejack Ranch, but they are estimated to land between $150,000 and $250,000, with annual dues, similar to the club’s Houston-area counterpoint.
Bluejack Ranch is not the only luxury residential golf development in the area. Also in the southwest corner of Fort Worth is the 1,100-acre Maverick Golf & Ranch Club, under development from Discovery Land Company and Dallas-based PMB Capital Investments. There, a nine-hole, par-3 course is already open. The centerpiece of the development will be an 18-hole course designed by Tom Fazio, which is slated to open for members in early November. That development is also planning about 500 homes.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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